I thought I heard the old man say | travelling merchants

[Reed]

  it was mid-day by the time Reed neared the border of Elysium, the sun shining above his head doing very little to melt any of the snow that coated his paws and fur. It wasn't a bad thing, the snow. it was fun to play in the white powder, to hear it crunch under him with each step or 'poomf' against Goatus when he threw a snowball at her, but it made his trips slightly more difficult with each time they had to get the cart out of yet another snowbank. It was still alright though, the cargo was dry and Goatus wasn't having any issues pulling. He always worried that she did too much and that she'd strain herself someday, but she just kept going and going. They'd at least hopefully be unloading some cargo here and lightening the load.

  Elysium.. he wasn't terribly sure how it would go. He'd never been here, hell, he'd never been to any of the clans nearby. He was excited to meet new people and trade but he was also cautious. The clans were supposed to be nice but he'd been fooled before, the scar on his side evidence of that. it was worth the risk though, he had way too much stuff. He'd turn to look at his companion, doubt coursing through him for but a split second as reassurance and comfort pushed its way through their bond. It'd be alright. Goatus headbutted him a little too hard but he laughed anyways, he loved her.

  They were at the border now. Reed rushed to secure the cart, wedging small blocks behind the wheels as a precaution. He didn't think anything would happen considering the snow, but he wanted to be safe. Jumping up onto Goatus's back and then onto the cart, he untied the cover, revealing the somewhat organised mess of items inside. Everything from slightly wilted flowers to skulls, old human clothes, pieces of slightly scrappy technology that he'd picked up to barter to the creatures that were weirdly into it, books, containers filled with unknown substances. It was a treasure trove, him and goatus's treasure trove, and they were ready to allow people access. He did have to wait a few minutes for someone so that he could start his spiel though.

  "Hello, hello!" He'd start, a grin blooming upon his face. "I'm Reed and this is my wonderful companion, Goatus. We're merchants and we're here to see if anybody would be interested in trade or exchange of services?" They weren't opposed to having things done for them instead of getting physical exchanges, a lot of creatures didn't have anything to barter but they always had some skill or another. "I am also wondering if I could speak to your leader, chief, whatever head of organisation that you guys got?"

(no need to match length. the cart is full of pretty much whatever you could think of, no solid inventory at the moment.)

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]The appearance of a cart at the border, manned by a red panda and a goat, wasn't all that strange by itself. The fact that their goods appeared so well-kept from what Rin could see as she walked over, despite the lack of discernible clan scent on them, was a bit stranger. Traveling merchants weren't unheard of here, but this was a lot of goods for two loners to be carrying around.

  Listening in on their introduction, Rin slowly approached Reed and Goatus, but still kept her distance. It made no sense for a god to go to the effort of hauling an entire cart of supplies here, but it was best to be careful anyway- especially since Reed specifically mentioned wanting to talk to the Magna. It could be a trade deal, or it could be a trap.

  "That would be me, yes," she said after a few moments, twitching her brows. "I'm Rin. What do you need?"

[Reed]

  Reed stopped for a moment, staring at the cat as they revealed that they were the one he asked for. That awfully convenient. Gods, she was here. Obviously she'd be here because he knew that she was the leader here, and a few loners he'd asked said she was, but she really was here. Hopefully they got along. Him and the leader, he meant. He meant a lot. I mean- said a lot. Did he? who knows. He was somewhat nervous now; Goatus was the same as always. The leader was smaller than he expected, but then again, Reed was bad at guessing sizes, his only information about her was some.. not too flattering commentary that he'd heard from mother. Not much of what she said about anyone was nice though, she didn't really seem to care about making others feel good about themselves, even if they were her children.

  "H..Hey! I heard about Elysium through the grapevine, animalvine?, and I thought it'd be pretty cool to sell my wares here." Alright, going smooth so far. "I was like, 'oh!' because I haven't been to the clans before because I was pretty like, secluded as a kid but then I got kicke- when I left, I started looking for places to go travelling to and this place seemed pretty great!" He was rambling, voice wavering slightly. was he anxious? probably. "and I like to ask the leaders if they're comfortable with me in their territories and stuff and.." He wasn't even telling her. He couldn't just not tell her. She could be nice! "uhm.. alright, quick startover." He'd breathe in deeply, awkward smile upon his face. "I'm Reed Kui, I've been looking for you for a while. I'm pretty sure that we're siblings?"

Goatus was chewing on something as this all went on, not really caring. was it a plant, was it meat? nobody knew.

[Alastor]

The two were an interesting pair so-to-speak. A visibly uninterested goat and an anxious merchant who was in search of a purpose makes quite the duo. Their dynamic brought on Alastor’s curiosity, prompting him to wander over to listen further. He couldn’t help but eye the two closer. A purple gaze scanned the presumably non-sentient or mute creature, only to look up at Reed seconds later. The Doberman Pinscher merely left his attention on Reed after that, as they did most of the talking. To be frank, they were truly the interesting one anyways. After all, they offered up some precious wares.

Before inquiring on what was in the cart, Alastor listened to what Reed had to say. Through the stutter-filled rambling, the canine couldn’t help but wander off into his own thoughts, only to be whipped back into the commotion seconds later. Something did manage to peak his interest though. The merchant spoke of kinship... with Warringkingdoms? Now that was an interesting way to get a selling permit. Whether Reed’s plan was an ulterior motive or the genuine truth, he couldn’t help but scoff underneath his breath. Even so, he kept his attention at full. There was no missing this.

Despite the treasured rejoice, Alastor always had to find a way to insert himself into the situation and take control. Literally and figuratively. He made his was over to the cart, ears still perked and listening, and observed it’s contents. A particular skull caught his attention. Nevertheless, he wanted to know more before he fumbled around in the scrap pile. “Can you tell me about what you have here?” he questioned. The canine always enjoyed keeping souvenirs from his adventures. This would be no different, but what did he have to offer? Perhaps Alastor could force their hand and give it to him ‘out of the kindness of their heart.’ Mind-control...

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]He was clearly nervous, more so than most of the strangers she saw at the border. Even those of more timid dispositions weren't usually this uncertain of their words. She wasn't particularly imposing, as a domestic cat with only a scarf to her name, so she had to wonder...

  Despite his efforts to backtrack, Rin knew exactly where he'd been going with his statement that he'd been "kicke-d out." Elysium was a common draw for outcasts, and she knew all too well that being evicted from one's home was just... reality, sometimes. If he was as young as he appeared, being thrown out would have left a noticeable mark on his psyche- her medical knowledge and common sense both agreed on that much.

  Then he introduced himself again- and the name "Kui" slipped off of his tongue.

  Surely he couldn't mean... well, not that it was impossible- she doubted such a woman would suddenly take and maintain a vow of chastity- but then... he thought they were siblings. He might be right. He probably was right. If that was true, though, then how had he found her? Who else knew that much identifying information about her? For that matter, was she still around here, or had Reed come that far in however long he'd been on his own?

  Furrowing her brows, Rin glanced down at the snow. Even if he was wrong, and they weren't actually siblings... he would still need help dealing with the abandonment, and the hurt, and the loneliness. No one deserved to go through such an experience alone, especially not someone so young.

  "What was your mother's given name?" she asked after a moment, lifting her head to meet Reed's gaze. "And how long have you been on your own?" Part of her knew she wasn't going to like either of those answers, but she had to know. At least, if she did have to hear that name again... at least then they would have something in common.

[Reed]

  Oh gods, someone to distract him for a moment. The suspense was broken as he turned away from his supposed sister, mood and expression changing in a blink of an eye. "I have a wide variety of items, virtually anything that you could think of!" He was back into the salesman role, breathing evened out and a calm look spreading. "We have everything from pressed flowers and plants to skulls and old human wares!" He didn't actually know everything that he had. He had a lot of stuff crammed into the cart that he and Goatus had just sort of, gotten. Not much of it had been bartered items, a few were stolen items though. "We are looking to unload some of this, we have much too much, and would not be greatly opposed to what others would consider an uneven trade."

  Rin was grabbing his attention again, and she was questioning him. It was alright, he could handle a few questions. He didn't have anything to hide. He wasn't going to talk about what Mother did but he could talk about her. "Mother's name is Ada, Ada Kui." He didn't know if she had any middle names or anything other than the basics, she never really spoke to him about that stuff. "I..uh" It had been a while since he had 'left' home. He hadn't been terribly old, not even fully weaned. "I was about, five and a half months old?" He was young, but he was fine now. He had gotten on just fine by himself for the month it took until he encountered Goatus. Him and Goatus weren't that far removed in age, but maturity was different. He took care of Goatus and she took care of him. "I have some of her old jewelry, I grabbed it before I left because I sorta wanted to keep something, y'know?" The jewelry was kept in a bag in Goatus's side-bags. shortly after mention, the bag would float up out of the bags to rest in Reed's open paw. "here, it's a necklace and some other stuff."

 

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]Ada.

  Even having steeled herself for the answer, Rin still flinched at the name that left Reed's mouth. Ada. A name that she might have considered pretty, had it belonged to literally anyone else. A name she'd heard whispered by all manner of creatures before... before everything went wrong.

  Having had her fears confirmed didn't stop her from approaching the bag in Reed's paw, peering into it. There was no reason to, other than sick curiosity. Nothing of value to her would be found in that bag, just crystals and stones laced with the worst the world had to offer.

  There it was- a silver necklace, set with rubies.

  All she could do was stare, revulsion and rage filling her at the sight of the polished surfaces. Almost five years had passed, and yet this necklace was still in good condition- better than any wandering kid could have restored it given a few months. She had cared for this thing for several years.

  Rin wanted to snatch it up and let her flames melt it down. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd destroyed something of objective material value out of spite. She'd been willing to forgive once, back when she was under the impression that she was the only child Ada had thrown out- but no, now she had Reed as living proof that Ada was the problem. She could feel the scars lining her form heating up, could taste the smoke on her own breath.

  Part of her wished Ada really was here now, so she could-

  Cutting that thought short, Rin tore her gaze away from the necklace. No, if she let herself go down that spiral, she risked actually setting something on fire- the territory most likely, and possibly those around her too. Nemhain would already be upset enough at the sudden burst of anger from her end of the bond, never mind if someone actually got hurt. Sinking her claws into the snow, she imagined the cold spreading through her form, the heat flowing away from any outlets and back into her core.

  Inhaling deeply, she shook her head. "You'll need a place to stay, then," she said quietly, looking over at Goatus, then back at Reed. "Between travels, at least. The sea town might be better for stowing your wares, but the mountain camp might be better for her. You're welcome to either." He hadn't even announced any intent to join, but she still ought to be sure he had access to shelter if he wanted it. However long he and his goat had gone without a roof over their heads- she estimated three months, but she could easily be wrong- it was too long.

[RB Graveyard]

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[div style="background: white; opacity: 0.8; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; max-width: 400px; height: 450px; overflow: auto; padding: 20px; color: #000; margin-left: 180px;"] Wheatley let out an excited bark as he spotted Rin, Rin had been kind to the boy; eager to learn all about the mountains and the shore that surrounded a part of Elysium. The culture and the people themselves was enough to make the young boys head spin. "Hey Rin," he said as his ears perked up. "What'r you doin?" Wheatleys english had gotten much better over these past few weeks, it was weaird but the boy would watch how creatures would talk and how they would move their tongues and lips; how they shaped them to form certain sounds. His brown eyes would fall over to the merchant and a smile would part his lips. "'Ello!" he yipped. "Who'r you? Whatcya got? Your staying? Great!" The pup looked at Rin, the smile still on his face when he wagged his tail. He'd wonder what kind of things this merchant had, what mysterious objects this guy got his paws on. "Rin, what'r you gonna get?"